John 8:40-42

8:40 But now you are trying ¹  to kill me, a man who has told you ²  the truth I heard from God. Abraham did not do this! ³  8:41 You people ⁴  are doing the deeds of your father.”

Then ⁵  they said to Jesus, ⁶  “We were not born as a result of immorality! ⁷  We have only one Father, God himself.” 8:42 Jesus replied, ⁸  “If God were your Father, you would love me, for I have come from God and am now here. ⁹  I ¹⁰  have not come on my own initiative, ¹¹  but he ¹²  sent me.

John 8:1

8:1 But Jesus went to the Mount of Olives. ¹³ 

John 2:23

Jesus at the Passover Feast

2:23 Now while Jesus ¹⁴  was in Jerusalem ¹⁵  at the feast of the Passover, many people believed in his name because they saw the miraculous signs he was doing. ¹⁶ 

John 2:2

2:2 and Jesus and his disciples were also invited to the wedding. ¹⁷ 

John 1:9

1:9 The true light, who gives light to everyone, ¹⁸  was coming into the world. ¹⁹ 

[8:40]  ¹ tn Grk “seeking.”

[8:40]  ² tn Grk “has spoken to you.”

[8:40]  ³ tn The Greek word order is emphatic: “This Abraham did not do.” The emphasis is indicated in the translation by an exclamation point.

[8:41]  ⁴ tn The word “people” is not in the Greek text, but is supplied in English to clarify the plural Greek pronoun and verb.

[8:41]  ⁵ tc ‡ Important and early witnesses (א B L W 070 it sy^s,p co) lack the conjunction here, while the earliest witnesses along with many others read οὖν (oun, “therefore”; Ì^66,75 C D Θ Ψ 0250 ˹³ 33 Ï). This conjunction occurs in John some 200 times, far more than in any other NT book. Even though the combined testimony of two early papyri for the conjunction is impressive, the reading seems to be a predictable scribal emendation. In particular, οὖν is frequently used with the plural of εἶπον (eipon, “they said”) in John (in this chapter alone, note vv. 13, 39, 48, 57, and possibly 52). On balance, it is probably best to consider the shorter reading as authentic, even though “Then” is virtually required in translation for English stylistic reasons. NA²⁷ has the conjunction in brackets, indicating some doubt as to its authenticity.

[8:41]  ⁶ tn Grk “him”; the referent (Jesus) is specified in the translation for clarity.

[8:41]  ⁷ sn We were not born as a result of immorality! is ironic, because Jesus’ opponents implied that it was not themselves but Jesus who had been born as a result of immoral behavior. This shows they did not know Jesus’ true origin and were not aware of the supernatural events surrounding his birth. The author does not even bother to refute the opponents’ suggestion but lets it stand, assuming his readers will know the true story.

[8:42]  ⁸ tn Grk “Jesus said to them.”

[8:42]  ⁹ tn Or “I came from God and have arrived.”

[8:42]  ¹⁰ tn Grk “For I.” Here γάρ (gar) has not been translated.

[8:42]  ¹¹ tn Grk “from myself.”

[8:42]  ¹² tn Grk “that one” (referring to God).

[8:1]  ¹³ sn The Mount of Olives is a hill running north to south about 1.8 mi (3 km) long, lying east of Jerusalem across the Kidron Valley. It was named for the large number of olive trees that grew on it.

[2:23]  ¹⁴ tn Grk “he”; the referent (Jesus) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[2:23]  ¹⁵ map For location see Map5 B1; Map6 F3; Map7 E2; Map8 F2; Map10 B3; JP1 F4; JP2 F4; JP3 F4; JP4 F4.

[2:23]  ¹⁶ sn Because they saw the miraculous signs he was doing. The issue here is not whether their faith was genuine or not, but what its object was. These individuals, after seeing the miracles, believed Jesus to be the Messiah. They most likely saw in him a political-eschatological figure of some sort. That does not, however, mean that their concept of “Messiah” was the same as Jesus’ own, or the author’s.

[2:2]  ¹⁷ sn There is no clue to the identity of the bride and groom, but in all probability either relatives or friends of Jesus’ family were involved, since Jesus’ mother and both Jesus and his disciples were invited to the celebration. The attitude of Mary in approaching Jesus and asking him to do something when the wine ran out also suggests that familial obligations were involved.

[1:9]  ¹⁸ tn Grk “every man” (but in a generic sense, “every person,” or “every human being”).

[1:9]  ¹⁹ tn Or “He was the true light, who gives light to everyone who comes into the world.” The participle ἐρχόμενον (ercomenon) may be either (1) neuter nominative, agreeing with τὸ φῶς (to fw"), or (2) masculine accusative, agreeing with ἄνθρωπον (anqrwpon). Option (1) results in a periphrastic imperfect with ἦν (hn), ἦν τὸ φῶς… ἐρχόμενον, referring to the incarnation. Option (2) would have the participle modifying ἄνθρωπον and referring to the true light as enlightening “every man who comes into the world.” Option (2) has some rabbinic parallels: The phrase “all who come into the world” is a fairly common expression for “every man” (cf. Leviticus Rabbah 31.6). But (1) must be preferred here, because: (a) In the next verse the light is in the world; it is logical for v. 9 to speak of its entering the world; (b) in other passages Jesus is described as “coming into the world” (6:14, 9:39, 11:27, 16:28) and in 12:46 Jesus says: ἐγὼ φῶς εἰς τὸν κόσμον ἐλήλυθα (egw fw" ei" ton kosmon elhluqa); (c) use of a periphrastic participle with the imperfect tense is typical Johannine style: 1:28, 2:6, 3:23, 10:40, 11:1, 13:23, 18:18 and 25. In every one of these except 13:23 the finite verb is first and separated by one or more intervening words from the participle.